2. To move rapidly away from or ahead of a group: The cyclist broke away from the pack.

3. To discontinue customary practice.

break down

1. To cause to collapse; destroy: break down a partition; broke down our resolve.

2. To become or cause to become distressed or upset. To have a physical or mental collapse.

3. To give up resistance; give way: prejudices that break down slowly.

4. To fail to function; cease to be useful, effective, or operable: The elevator broke down.

5. To render or become weak or ineffective: Opposition to the king's rule gradually broke down his authority.

6. To divide into or consider in parts; analyze. To be divisible; admit of analysis: The population breaks down into three main groups.

7. To decompose or cause to decompose chemically.

8. Electricity To undergo a breakdown.

break in

1. To train or adapt for a purpose.

2. To loosen or soften with use: break in new shoes.

3. To enter premises forcibly or illegally: a prowler who was trying to break in.

4. To interrupt a conversation or discussion. To intrude.

5. To begin an activity or undertaking: The Senator broke in during the war years.

break into

1. To interrupt: "No one would have dared to break into his abstraction"(Alan Paton).

2. To begin suddenly: The horse broke into a wild gallop. The child broke into a flood of tears.

3. To enter (a field of activity): broke into broadcast journalism at an early age.

break off

1. To separate or become separated, as by twisting or tearing.

2. To stop suddenly, as in speaking.

3. To discontinue (a relationship). To cease to be friendly.

break out

1. To become affected with a skin eruption, such as pimples.

2. To develop suddenly and forcefully: Fighting broke out in the prison cells.

3. To ready for action or use: Break out the rifles! To bring forth for consumption: Let's break out the champagne.

4. To emerge or escape.

5. To be separable or classifiable into categories, as data.

6. To isolate (information) from a large body of data.

break through

To make a sudden, quick advance, as through an obstruction.

break up

1. To separate or be separated into pieces: She broke up a chocolate bar. The river ice finally broke up. To interrupt the uniformity or continuity of: An impromptu visit broke up the long afternoon.

2. To scatter; disperse: The crowd broke up after the game.

3. To cease to function or cause to stop functioning as an organized unit or group: His jazz band broke up. The new CEO broke up the corporation.

4. To bring or come to an end: Guards broke up the fight. They argued, and their friendship broke up.

5. Informal To burst or cause to burst into laughter.

Idioms:

break a leg

Used to wish someone, such as an actor, success in a performance.

break bread

To eat together.

break camp

To pack up equipment and leave a campsite.

break cover

To emerge from a protected location or hiding place: The platoon broke cover and headed down the road.

break even

To gain an amount equal to that invested, as in a commercial venture.

break ground

1. To begin a new construction project.

2. To advance beyond previous achievements.

break new ground

To advance beyond previous achievements: broke new ground in the field of computers.

break (one's) neck

To make the utmost possible effort.

break rank/ranks

1. To fall into disorder, as a formation of soldiers.

2. To fail to conform to a prevailing or expected pattern or order: "Architectural experts have criticized the plaza in the past because it breaks rank with the distinctive façades of neighboring Fifth Avenue blocks, whose buildings are flush with the sidewalk"(Sharon Churcher).

break (someone's) heart

To disappoint or dispirit someone severely.

break the bank

To require more money than is available.

break the buck

To fall below the value of one dollar. Used of the net asset value of a mutual fund, especially a money market fund.

Synonyms: break, crack, fracture, burst, splinter, shatter, smash These verbs mean to become separated into parts or pieces, either by the sudden application of force or by the pressure of internal stress. Break is the most general: That delicate ornament will break easily. The bag held so many heavy things that it broke. To crack is to break without dividing into parts: The building's foundation cracked during the earthquake. Crack can also mean to break apart: "Burning branches crack from trees and fall in showers of sparks at my feet" (Suzanne Collins).Fracture applies to a break or crack in a rigid body: Heat and pressure caused the bedrock to fracture.Burst implies a sudden coming apart, especially from internal pressure: "Even when their bellies seemed about to burst, their mouths craved more and they drank on" (Ian McEwan).Splinter implies splitting into long, thin, sharp pieces: The boat's hull splintered when it hit the reef. To shatter is to break into many scattered pieces: The icicle shattered when it landed on the front steps.Smash stresses force of blow or impact and suggests complete destruction: I dropped the vase, and it smashed into pieces. All of these verbs can also be used transitively (that is, they can take a direct object) as in break the glass or fracture your arm. See Also Synonyms at opportunity.

break

(breɪk)

vb, breaks, breaking, brokeorbroken

1. to separate or become separated into two or more pieces: this cup is broken.

2. to damage or become damaged so as to be inoperative: my radio is broken.

3. to crack or become cracked without separating

4. to burst or cut the surface of (skin, etc)

5. to discontinue or become discontinued: they broke for lunch; to break a journey.

chance event, fortuity, accident, stroke - anything that happens suddenly or by chance without an apparent cause; "winning the lottery was a happy accident"; "the pregnancy was a stroke of bad luck"; "it was due to an accident or fortuity"

3.

break - (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the faulting of the earth's crust"

break - an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion); "then there was a break in her voice"

alteration, change, modification - an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another; "the change was intended to increase sales"; "this storm is certainly a change for the worse"; "the neighborhood had undergone few modifications since his last visit years ago"

11.

break - the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool

billiards - any of several games played on rectangular cloth-covered table (with cushioned edges) in which long tapering cue sticks are used to propel ivory (or composition) balls

stroke, shot - (sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand; "it took two strokes to get out of the bunker"; "a good shot requires good balance and tempo"; "he left me an almost impossible shot"

12.

break - (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; "he was up two breaks in the second set"

terminate, end - bring to an end or halt; "She ended their friendship when she found out that he had once been convicted of a crime"; "The attack on Poland terminated the relatively peaceful period after WW I"

hold on, stop - stop and wait, as if awaiting further instructions or developments; "Hold on a moment!"

break - render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"

damage - inflict damage upon; "The snow damaged the roof"; "She damaged the car when she hit the tree"

conk out, go bad, break down, die, fail, give out, give way, break, go - stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident"

fracture - become fractured; "The tibia fractured from the blow of the iron pipe"

terminate, end - bring to an end or halt; "She ended their friendship when she found out that he had once been convicted of a crime"; "The attack on Poland terminated the relatively peaceful period after WW I"

bog down, bog - get stuck while doing something; "She bogged down many times while she wrote her dissertation"

break - enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act; "Someone broke in while I was on vacation"; "They broke into my car and stole my radio!"; "who broke into my account last night?"

outdo, outgo, outmatch, outperform, outstrip, surpass, exceed, surmount - be or do something to a greater degree; "her performance surpasses that of any other student I know"; "She outdoes all other athletes"; "This exceeds all my expectations"; "This car outperforms all others in its class"

15.

break - make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case"

break - come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"

become, get, go - enter or assume a certain state or condition; "He became annoyed when he heard the bad news"; "It must be getting more serious"; "her face went red with anger"; "She went into ecstasy"; "Get going!"

17.

break - stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident"

break up, part, split, split up, separate, break - discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up"

19.

break - make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke"

break - curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke"

cave in, collapse, fall in, give way, founder, give, break - break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"

change - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night"

break in, break - make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"

23.

break - come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"

end, cease, terminate, finish, stop - have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical; "the bronchioles terminate in a capillary bed"; "Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other"; "My property ends by the bushes"; "The symphony ends in a pianissimo"

24.

break - vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"

vary, alter, change - become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence; "her mood changes in accordance with the weather"; "The supermarket's selection of vegetables varies according to the season"

break - emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke"

appear - come into sight or view; "He suddenly appeared at the wedding"; "A new star appeared on the horizon"

36.

break - break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"

break - exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"

exchange, convert, commute, change - exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category; "Could you convert my dollars into pounds?"; "He changed his name"; "convert centimeters into inches"; "convert holdings into shares"

break up, break - destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set"

39.

break - destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set"

alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"

break - exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"

40.

break - make the opening shot that scatters the balls

billiards - any of several games played on rectangular cloth-covered table (with cushioned edges) in which long tapering cue sticks are used to propel ivory (or composition) balls

shoot - throw or propel in a specific direction or towards a specific objective; "shoot craps"; "shoot a golf ball"

41.

break - separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers"

disclose, let on, divulge, expose, give away, let out, reveal, unwrap, discover, bring out, break - make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case"

figure out, puzzle out, solve, lick, work out, work - find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of; "did you solve the problem?"; "Work out your problems with the boss"; "this unpleasant situation isn't going to work itself out"; "did you get it?"; "Did you get my meaning?"; "He could not work the math problem"

break - crack; of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir"

change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election"

56.

break - fall sharply; "stock prices broke"

decrease, diminish, lessen, fall - decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper"

decrease, diminish, lessen, fall - decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper"

59.

break - weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"

15.be revealed, come out, be reported, be published, be announced, be made public, be proclaimed, be let out, be imparted, be divulged, come out in the washHe resigned his post as Bishop when the scandal broke.

Murray got off to the better start, breaking serve in the third game and that proved to be enough for him to pocket the first set in a hotly-disputed 10th game where Wawrinka had break points to level.

Safarova had only beaten Sharapova once in five previous meetings but she simply outgunned the world number two, hitting 34 winners to her opponent's 20 and breaking serve three times - sealing a stunning victory in one hour and 50 minutes.

All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.